ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top digital-assets regulator met with one of the country’s most influential Islamic scholars over the weekend, seeking to contain fallout from a religious ruling that cast doubt on the legitimacy of cryptocurrency under Shariah law just as the South Asian nation races to build out a regulatory framework for the industry.
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Pakistan’s top court reverses course on Nasla Tower demolitions, faults justices for overreach
ISLAMABAD: A landmark ruling this week from Pakistan’s newly formed Federal Constitutional Court has upended nearly a decade of court-ordered demolitions across this sprawling port city, finding that the country’s Supreme Court exceeded its authority when it launched a sweeping campaign against illegal construction that eventually claimed one of Karachi’s most recognisable buildings.
‘The Islamic Republic of Japan’
There is a version of this story in which US President Donald Trump stands in Ankara, flanked by the assembled grandees of the Atlantic alliance, and says something statesmanlike about Patriot missile defence systems. There is another version — the one that actually happened — in which he does that too, but somewhere in the middle invents a country.
Bahria Town official, retired colonel convicted in money laundering case
ISLAMABAD: A retired army colonel who serves as vice chief executive of Bahria Town was convicted on Thursday for a second time in less than a year, this time for illegally moving money abroad to finance projects for the sprawling real estate developer, as investigators continue to unravel a financial network built around one of the country’s most powerful property empires.
In new global liveability rankings, Karachi remains mired near the bottom – and Gulf cities tumble too
KARACHI: Copenhagen has once again been named the world’s most livable city, but for residents of Karachi, Pakistan’s sprawling port metropolis, the latest edition of a closely watched global index brought little to celebrate: The city remained lodged near the very bottom of the rankings, one of only four cities on Earth judged less livable than nearly all others surveyed.
As glaciers melt and monsoons rise, a Pakistani city builds directly in harm’s way
For a decade, this city in the shadow of the Karakoram range has been building its way into a disaster. Satellite photographs taken in 2013 and again in 2023 show the same stretch of land along a stream on Gilgit’s outskirts, and the difference between them is stark: what was once open floodplain is now dense with rooftops, shopfronts, and roads. The stream that cuts through it is not an ordinary waterway. It is fed by glacial lakes high in the surrounding mountains, the kind capable of bursting without warning and sending a wall of water, mud, and debris down into whatever lies below.
Anti-graft body seizes tallest tower in escalating probe of property tycoon Malik Riaz
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau took physical control of the Bahria Icon Tower, the country’s tallest building, on Monday, marking the most significant asset seizure yet in a widening money-laundering investigation targeting real estate developer Malik Riaz Hussain.
Pakistan recalls Babar Azam as test captain for West Indies, England tours
LAHORE: Pakistan’s cricket selectors reinstated Babar Azam as Test captain on Sunday, naming him to lead the team on upcoming tours of the West Indies and England as the board seeks to arrest a decline in results under his predecessor.
Britain, Pakistan in talks over deporting convicted child rapist Shabir Ahmed
ISLAMABAD: British officials have opened talks with the government of Pakistan over deporting Shabir Ahmed, the convicted ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, who walked out of prison this week after serving roughly half of a 19-year sentence for the rape and sexual exploitation of children, according to the BBC.
Lahore court remands four suspects in sexual assault, kidnap case involving two foreign women
LAHORE: A Lahore court on Friday ordered five days of physical remand for four men arrested over the alleged kidnapping and rape of two foreign tourists, a case that has drawn attention after police said the women were held for ransom and sexually assaulted over several days in the eastern city of Lahore.